Oliver’s latest book, Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth, isn’t a story but an introduction to the world for his first child – written and illustrated in the first few months of his son’s life.

[Digital Arts] caught up with Oliver on a recent press tour to promote the book, and interviewed him about his creative process and approach to mark making and composition – and how different it was to work on a non-fiction book with a very particular audience in mind.

Highly recommended link…
There is a video presentation of the interview (just under 10 minutes in length) and an edited transcript.

“I was never able to draw using a [graphics] tablet,” he says, “because it’s an unusual thing to be looking at the screen at something being created that’s actually happening with your hand. I tried it a couple of times [and thought], ‘No. It feels unnatural.’

He did find some advantages to working on an iPad though.

“You can zoom in, which is a huge advantage,” he says. “You can’t do that with an actual piece of paper.

“It’s strange because there’s zero friction. Whenever you’re drawing with a pencil across a piece of paper, there’s texture, drag, resistance. It’s just not there, and that’s a strange sensation, which I don’t know if you’ll ever really get used to.”

A study by the National Literacy Trust says tablet computers are a ‘vital new weapon’ to combat poor reading:

Jonathan Douglas, the trust’s director, said it was crucial “that we recognise the opportunities that technology brings for engaging boys and poorer children in reading”.
“Our research confirms that technology is playing a central role in young children’s vocabulary development,” he said. “Nearly all children have access to a touch-screen device at home and as technology advances and digital skills become increasingly important, we need to harness these developments to encourage children to become avid readers, whatever format they choose.”
The study – jointly carried out with the publisher Pearson – was based on a survey of more than 1,000 parents with young children combined with a poll of 567 early years workers. It also analysed the link between vocabulary and reading practices among 183 three- to five-year-olds.

Nosy Crow is celebrating the third anniversary of their groundbreaking first fairytale app by making it FREE all this week:

Today we’re launching a very exciting promotion: Our groundbreaking first fairytale app, The Three Little Pigs, is exactly three years old today, and to celebrate, we’re making it free for the first time ever. You can download it from the App Store here.

The British Library has teamed up with BigStrawberry to produce a set of exclusive eReader and mini-iPad covers:

The British Library and bigstrawberry have now launched a new and exclusive range of eReader and mini iPad covers. Perfect for book lovers using a digital device to read, but seeking ways to still show their appreciation for the traditional.
The exciting range has been created by bigstrawberry using the inspirational and diverse collections of one of the world’s greatest research libraries, providing a unique and beautifully designed way for book lovers to protect their device and enhance their reading experience.
At launch the range will be available via bigstrawberry, the British Library shop and online store, and in selected retail partners.

How will the modern bookstore change when by 2015 the amount of digital books sold will reach 50%? … How will bookstores transition from exclusively selling physical books to actively promoting eBooks?
The one worry many bookstores face is being a showroom for 3rd party eBook companies….
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The bookstore of the future must develop their own eBook infrastructure in order to preserve their own identity and maximize profits. It is critically important that major chains develop their own digital bookstore and sell eBooks directly to their shoppers. It is simply not sustainable to encourage all of your patrons to buy the digital editions from Amazon or Apple There is always more money to be made by phasing out the middleman and reaching your audience directly.
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In the end, bookstores need to develop their own bookstore and develop a series of apps for readers to use. These need to be loaded on any tablet or e-reader that their store carries. If the hardware vendor does not want to play ball, you ditch them. Bookstores sustain themselves from selling books, magazines and hardware. They need to unshackle themselves from a strict reliance on a 3rd party and bite the bullet and develop their own digital storefront.

Sam Jordison (and his daughter) on a Winnie the Pooh app from Egmont, from the Guardian books blog:

Egmont have attempted to mix minimally animated versions of EH Shepard’s original illustrations with music, sounds and a shortened version of AA Milne’s story (which you can read for yourself, or have read aloud). The rationale behind this is alarming. Kristian Knak, lead user experience designer at Egmont, told Metro: “The attention span and patience of today’s children is obviously different than in 1926. If children are not engaged in the storytelling almost instantly, they’ll just move on to the next app. On one hand, we really want to preserve the integrity of the original work by Milne and Shepard, but on the other hand, when you want to reach out to children you need to adapt the storytelling, you need to enhance it.”

He says “enhance”, I say “ruin”. The animations (which you press to set running) get in the way of the words. The words get in the way of finding and pressing the next animation. It wasn’t quite a book, it wasn’t quite a cartoon, it wasn’t quite a game. But it was quite boring.

Admittedly, I’m not the target audience. I am not – alas – one of today’s children. But my five-year-old daughter is – so I gave her the app to see what she made of it. At first she looked very pleased. She listened to the story, she enjoyed the EH Shepard pictures, which are, after all, beautiful. But as soon as she worked out that you could make the pictures move she became distracted. Then she became annoyed that she couldn’t make the animations do more. Then she started to express frustration that she had to push through the text to get to the next pictures. Then she started skipping. Then she lost track of the story. Then, within five minutes of first opening the app, she got to the end.

“You can delete it now Daddy,” she said.

“Don’t you want to look at it again?”

“No.”

So much for the digital revolution.

It could be argued that my daughter had proved the point about today’s children and their short attention spans – but if you put a distracting animation in front of her, she’s of course going to try to find out what it does. If you sit down and actually read Winnie the Pooh to her, from the page, she loves it. And I’d bet that most of her five-year-old contemporaries would have the same reaction. These stories and pictures have been enchanting kids for almost 100-years. They ain’t broken. There’s no need to fix them.

To coincide with UK Father’s Day on Sunday 16th June, Hodder Children’s Books launch an app of popular picture book Just Like My Dad from best-selling children’s author and illustrator,
David Melling.

Developed using the Touchoo Creator interactive book editor, the Just Like My Dad app has been simultaneously released today, Thursday 13th June, for both iOS and Android platforms. Available from the iTunes AppStore and Google Play in the UK, Europe, Australia and North America priced at £1.99.

Andy Sharp, Group Rights and Digital Director, comments:“I am delighted to be bringing this David Melling classic to the digital audience. I am looking forward to sharing the app with my two sons who are going to have a blast with some of the sound effects. I can’t wait for this weekend when I can gift my own dad the app!”

First published in 2002, the original picture book of Just Like My Dad is a story that conveys what so many father/child relationships are about in a humorous and touching tale from David Melling, author and illustrator of the well-loved Hugless Douglas books. “A celebration of the father/child relationship. David Melling’s approach is affectionate and comic.” – The Guardian